Indigenous engineering - building a better future: Finding and citing Indigenous scholars

OMNI, the Library's catalogue, can be used to find publications by Indigenous groups and organizations.

1. Open the OMNI Advanced Search.
2. Under the Any Field drop down, select "Author/Creator."
3. Use the search phrase "first nation" OR indigenous OR metis OR inuit. Click Search.
   1. (The term "OR" is capitalized to denote its status as a Boolean operator)
4. Optional:use a second search box to include additional keywords, such as "entrepreneur," "engineering." or "environmental impacts."

Reverse lookup is a way of finding related content once you have already found a book or article of interest. In this case, you might find other Indigenous scholars, or people writing on Indigenous-related topics. Here are some tips: 

• Flip to the reference list at the back of an academic paper or book to see which resources that paper cited. 
  • TIP: In a database like Scopus, you can often search the article title and find the reference list hyperlinked, so that you can easily access these other articles. 
• In Google Scholar, you can search for an article, then click the link to see Related Articles.

Citing someone's work is a way of acknowledging and reaffirming a person's knowledge and expertise. Historically, Indigenous scholars and Indigenous perspectives have been largely absent from academic research.

To learn more, watch Decolonizing Citations and/or Navigating Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property - The Adventures of the Yakuanoi. 

Consider if the topic you're researching could/should include Indigenous perspectives: 

• Is this a topic that affects Indigenous peoples? 
• Is your research providing a balanced look from multiple perspectives? 
• Have you been able to find research by Indigenous scholars/from Indigenous perspectives on this topic? 

APA Guidance on Citing Indigenous-Related Content

"Capitalize most terms related to Indigenous Peoples. These include names of specific groups (e.g., Cherokee, Cree, Ojibwe) and words related to Indigenous culture (e.g., Creation, the Creator, Elder, Oral Tradition, Traditional Knowledge, Vision Quest). The capitalization is intentional and demonstrates respect for Indigenous perspectives" (APA, 2019). 

If you would like to cite something from Indigenous oral tradition, rather than from a published book or article, here are some considerations: 

• Should you be citing this information? Indigenous oral tradition is often meant to be passed orally from one person to another, rather than written. Consider asking an elder if you can or should cite this information. 
• Existing copyright practices do not adhere to Indigenous ideas about ownership. Take a look at the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Position Statement on Indigenous Knowledge in Canada's Copyright Act to learn more. 

• Lorisia McLeod, who is from the James Smith Cree Nation, wrote a paper entitled More Than Personal Communication: Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. 
• University of Toronto Libraries' Indigenous Studies Guide has information on Citing Elders and Knowledge Keepers, including templates in MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.